Post Nuptials
Post Nuptials is a fan fiction written by Darth Link 22. It is set around the time of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's second wedding during the events of the two-part episode "A Canterlot Wedding". In the story, the main characters deal with the emotional fallout caused by the changelings' invasion, including Twilight Sparkle's friends abandoning her over her outburst at the fake Cadance (Queen Chrysalis) during the wedding rehearsal, and everyone's subsequent guilt over their actions. The story has since spawned a direct sequel and two standalone side stories, making this the first installment of a series of fan fictions called the Nuptialverse.__TOC__ Style Post Nuptials is written in past tense from a third-person point of view. It is divided into ten chapters told in a slightly anachronic order, each chapter having an omniscient narrator and focusing on a different character, starting with Twilight Sparkle. Chapter 2 is set immediately afterward and is told from Princess Celestia's perspective. The next six chapters take place during the events of the second chapter and are synchronous with each other, each told from the perspective of Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike, in that order. Chapter 9, told from Shining Armor's perspective, is chronologically the earliest chapter, taking place before chapter 1. The final chapter returns to Twilight's perspective and is set after the other nine chapters. Summary Twilight Sparkle The story opens immediately after Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's second wedding ceremony, held after they thwart a changeling invasion plot during the first ceremony (shown in "A Canterlot Wedding: Part 2"). Twilight Sparkle is in her suite preparing for the postnuptial reception when she is approached by her five friends. The five express great remorse over shunning Twilight for accosting Queen Chrysalis—believed to be Cadance at the time—during the wedding rehearsal (shown in "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1"). Twilight insists that she has already forgiven them, and that only Chrysalis is to blame for deceiving everyone. The five are shocked by Twilight's leniency and tearfully hug her, promising to throw a party for her for when they return home to make up for it. Princess Celestia Soon after the reception begins, Princess Celestia retires to her bedchambers. Princess Luna notices something amiss and visits Celestia in her room to find her crying. Celestia tells Luna her belief that she has let her kingdom down by letting Chrysalis fool her, and her shame for hurting Twilight by ignoring her warnings. Luna offers to let Twilight speak with Celestia, but Celestia feels she cannot face Twilight and refuses. As the reception ends, Luna tells Twilight what is troubling her mentor, and Twilight visits Celestia's room to comfort her. The two apologize to each other before falling asleep. Rainbow Dash Rainbow Dash is asked out by Soarin' on a date. As the two spend time together, they are approached by Scootaloo, who brags about Rainbow to Soarin'. When Rainbow asks Scootaloo about her parents, Scootaloo becomes uncomforable and leaves. Rainbow remembers that she had reacted harshly towards Scootaloo over the Cutie Mark Crusaders' gossip column (shown in "Ponyville Confidential"), and tells Soarin' about her shame of being so readily forgiven by Twilight for doing the same thing to her. She resolves to redeem herself by helping Scootaloo when they return to Ponyville. Rarity Rarity bumps into Fancy Pants and happily catches up with him. As she sees Rainbow fly off together with Soarin', she tells Fancy Pants about what happened between her and Twilight. Fancy Pants inquires how Twilight feels about her own behavior at the reception, to which Rarity realizes that she and her friends have never considered it. Rarity decides to talk with Twilight again. Applejack Applejack tries keeping her mind off her guilt while meeting and chatting with her cousin Apple Fritter. Their small talk quickly turns to the subject of Twilight, whom Apple Fritter praises innocently and profusely. Applejack is pained by Apple Fritter's compliments and, when asked what is bothering her, tells her cousin about her falling out with Twilight at the rehearsal. Apple Fritter suggests she should talk to Twilight again in the morning so they can better understand each other's feelings. Fluttershy Fluttershy wanders away from the party towards the royal sculpture garden and hedge maze. She is joined by a distraught Iron Will, who tells her that, since their last encounter (shown in "Putting Your Hoof Down"), he has discovered that his assertiveness seminars, which he had designed to fight bullying, have turned all his clients into bullies instead. Fluttershy empathizes with Iron Will and, once he tells her he is working to atone by getting back in contact with his old clients, resolves to do the same with Twilight. Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie is found binging on cake by Princess Luna. Luna deduces Pinkie is ignoring her own feelings of guilt and cautions her that doing so is not healthy, comparing Pinkie's delusions of abandonment (shown in "Party of One") to her own transformation into Nightmare Moon after drinking uninhibitedly to escape her jealousy of Celestia one thousand years ago. Pinkie admits she has been hiding her past from her friends and the Cakes, and that she had angered her birth parents by running away from home. Luna makes Pinkie promise to discuss her true feelings with her friends, as well as to talk with Twilight again. Spike Spike shamefully hides from Twilight instead of joining the others in apologizing to her. Sweetie Belle finds him and offers to dance with him to cheer him up. Afterward, Spike reluctantly confides in her, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo that he thinks of Twilight as his mother and now believes she would never want him as a son since he abandoned her. He makes them promise not to tell anyone else what he has said. He also tells them his plans to give them a Mother's Day gift meant for Twilight when they return home, wanting nothing more to do with it. Shining Armor The setting shifts to Twilight's arrangement of the second wedding. Shining Armor finds Twilight and privately tells her his plans to call off the wedding, believing he has failed as a potential husband, a guard captain, and a brother. Twilight angrily tells him doing so would break Cadance's heart. She then confesses that, while she is still mad at everyone for not believing her, she is also afraid that they would have never forgiven her if she had been wrong about Cadance. Twilight agrees to talk with her friends the next chance she gets, while Shining Armor agrees to go through with the wedding, naming Twilight his Best Mare again in the process. When approached by her friends before the reception, however, Twilight is taken aback by their guilt and decides to wait before she reveals her true feelings to them. Twilight Sparkle II Twilight awakens the morning after the reception and, with encouragement from Celestia, meets with her friends on the train ride home, each of them ready to hear Twilight's side of the story. Twilight admits her anger at her friends and her fear of losing them over her outburst. The five assure her that they had all planned to talk with her since their fight, and would have forgiven her either way. After the six friends happily embrace each other in reconciliation, Twilight and Rainbow Dash bring up their plans to investigate Spike and Scootaloo's odd behavior from the reception, while Pinkie mulls over her promise to tell her friends and the Cakes about her own problems. Reception Post Nuptials was met with widespread popularity and acclaim on FIMFiction. By May 30, 2012, the story received 306 "likes" and 1 "dislike" from users; Darth Link 22 posted that such positive reception "blew him away".Post Nuptials update It amassed 548 "likes" and 9 "dislikes" by its completion on June 29, 2012, and reached over 1,000 "likes" by October 2012.Post Nuptials Darth Link 22 has tried to submit the story to Equestria Daily upon revising the story on July 6, 2012, but it was never featured.Post Nuptials: Behind the Scenes Readers have praised the story for addressing plot holes and providing better closure for the subplot in "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1" wherein Twilight's suspicions of Cadance are ignored by her friends, which is only briefly mentioned in the "Part 2". However, criticism was drawn towards the middle six chapters for being too repetative in their presentation of the characters. This criticism is shared by Darth Link 22, who has expressed a desire to rewrite the story to make it less drawn out.S3 and the Nuptialverse Derivative works Two side stories set during the events of Post Nuptials were released: Metamorphosis, released on July 14, 2012, and Honeymoon, released on October 17, 2012. Both were written as chapters for Post Nuptials, but were released as one-shot stories for being too dark and shifting from the original story's focus, respectively.Coming Attractions A direct sequel to the original story, Families, was released on July 23, 2012, with a second sequel planned. On February 16, 2013, FIMFiction user "BronyRanger" announced plans to create a fanmade animation based on Post Nuptials. The adaptation will omit all hints to the original story's sequel Families, alcohol references, and the make-out scene between Vinyl Scratch and Octavia in chapter 6 to better adhere to the canon and kid-friendly nature of .Post Nuptials adaption concept Darth Link 22 has expressed interest in contributing a rewrite of the story for the adaptation. References Category:Fan fiction